Greetings from Copenhagen

Yes, this is my summer to travel. i am in Copenhagen with my daughter and we are having a great time. I feel so lucky to be able to share this experience with her.

Here is a view of a typical row of buildings in Copenhagen - pretty, even in the rain!

And I will finish with a photo of a summer palace:

Now I Get It

I caught the Zauberball bug in Charlottesville.

Not only did I buy a skein, but I also had to buy needles so I could cast on immediately! And it isn't as though I didn't bring enough knitting. This stuff is so gorgeous and the color changes keep you going -- even on this simple one-row pattern.

Sorry format linking to the pattern. I can't figure up how to do that on my iPhone.

Yarn in C'ville

My friend Joni and I have stumbled on a couple great knitting stores. We found The Needle Lady in Charlottesville, Virginia, right on that city's pedestrian mall . I fell in love with this crocheted blanket on display:

 

This shop leans toward the luxurious end of the scale, so it was a great place to pet yarn. There was less yarn than usual because the owner is at Stitches Midwest. I'm not complaining; it was hard enough not to acquire a lot more yarn. I did buy one skein -- but that's another post.

Charlottesville is one of the most charming places I've been. If you visit Virginia, it's a must. Its big tourist draw is the home of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and America's third president. He is a fascinating man of contradictions -- a slave owner who did not believe in slavery, for one. He is also credited for bringing French cooking to the United States in a new book, Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee, which I had to have.

His home is worth a visit:

C'ville's downtown mall teems with great local stores and restaurants. The art galleries are inspiring and there is a mixed-media art store. We had great veggie burgers at the Citizen Burger Bar. I had mine on a lettuce "bun."

There will be more. Stay tuned!

Oh Shenandoah

This is one of the places I have been in the last week: the  Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. My friend Joni from California met me in DC and we took a little road trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Stay tuned for more ... And I promise there will be knitting!

Bomb This Library ... With Yarn

 I walked into my local library the other day and saw this:

Is this cool or what?

The sign explains that the book car twas yarnbombed by students, staff, and volunteers at West High School. I am so jealous that they have such a cool club. We've tried knitting clubs at our school, but middle-schoolers need a lot of help, and it's hard to find enough adults.

Sadly, I don't think I'll be doing any clubs this year. In the wake of the wage cuts we teachers have suffered, our work load is going to increase this fall. It's really sad because clubs are a great way to build relationships!

On the upside, I am planning a lot of fun and (I hope) educational activities for the new reading class I'll be teaching.

Yes, summer is almost over.

Family Heirlooms

 

Keith and I both see the day we move into a smaller house looming on the horizon, so we've been trying to clear the house of things we don't need or love. My broken leg slowed me down, but Keith has been sifting through his belongings. One of the things he unearthed is this clown made of cloth yo-yos. His grandmother made thousands of these yoyos from cast-off clothing. She made this clown doll for Keith.

The fact is that we have tons of heirloom-quality hand-mades from his family. His mom is an expert seamstress and cross-stitcher. Keith took advantage of his mom's craftiness and talked her into making a wall quilt out of the yoyos she inherited. Here is a detail of the quilt that hangs over our bed:

My parents are serious about pruning their belongings as they are in the process of moving to Madison, and they have passed on to use some lovely things -- but not handmade. My parents have great taste in art, and now we are benefiting from that!

This contrast between our sets of parents intrigues me. My mom always said she doesn't know where I came from because she has no interest in arts or crafts. But in the long run, Keith and I are lucky to have house filled with both art and crafts.

Travel Knitting

 Now for the truly important issue from my trip to Madrid: What did I knit?

These are a present for my friend Debbie, who has a birthday tomorrow. Unfortunately she had to fly to the East Coast for a funeral, so I won't be able to give these to her on the actual day.

The pattern is Spring Forward, free on Knitty. It is a great travel pattern because it's simple enough to memorize but not boring. I'm sure I'll make it again. The yarn is a mystery skein from my stash. I have no idea what it is or where it came from. It definitely is a high-quality merino sock yarn. It rates high on the squishy scale.

I should have got more knitting done on my trip, but I kept making mistakes and ending up spending as much time tinking as I did knitting!

Madrid Es Muy Bueno

In other words, I loved Madrid. It is different from the other European capitals I've visited: more laid back, less crowded, very easy to sight see or just hang out.

I hate it when people make you look at all 300 of their vacation photos, so I'll just share a few pics from my trip.

Madrid is a beautiful city with elegant multi-story buildings. Here is a view of Gran Via, the major street in the city:

You cannot visit Madrid without admiring the famous Plaza Mayor:

We took a day trip to the Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a palace and monastery in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 km northwest of Madrid. It's plain exterior belies the rich beauty within.

The perfect place for a hot summer afternoon is the Retiro, a large park complete with boating:

You could not find a better city for visiting art museums than Madrid. The Prado, pictured below, has a stunning collection, including works by Spanish masters Velazquez and Goya. Spain once ruled Flanders, so there is a stunning selection by Hieronymus Bosch and Rubens. I could have spent days there, but had to make time to see see Picasso's Guernica, his anti-war mural at the Reina Sofia and the eclectic but fascinating collection at the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza.

 

Of course, the best things about any travels are the people. I owe thanks for this trip to my brother Eric and his girlfriend Nancy. Nancy was teaching in Madrid for the month of July and they graciously shared their apartment with me. I had so much fun hanging out with them.

I was lucky to have these two companions. Robbie, on the left, is Nancy's son. Theo is my nephew. They are both fun to be with. And very patient. They didn't complain when I wanted to check out some boutiques!

Nancy's friend Ruchi, who she met when she lived The Hague joined us for a few days. She cooked us some amazing meals from her native India.

 Ruchi's son, Rudy, is Robbie's age. They met in school many years ago in The Hague. He's eating (well, we were all eating) Churros con Chocolate, a Madrid favorite. I'm not sure that you could find anything more delicious and less healthy: The chocolate is thick, rich and pudding-like, and the churros are light and crisp, due to being deep fried! You dip the churro into the chocolate and enjoy!

 And one night we went out to dinner with Raffa and his family. Raffa was an exchange student who stayed with my family. I had left home by then, but I've seen enough of him over the years to treasure his friendship. Here we all are, including Raffa and his family but not Nancy (who took the photo):

This was my first trip to Europe since 1986. Why did I wait so long? I'd forgotten how exhilarating it is to visit a place that is so different from the States.

On Vacation

For a good laugh,  follow this link. 

I'm heading off to Madrid for about two weeks. I'm hoping I'll have access to a computer so I can read your posts, but I don't think I'll be blogging!

Stay cool.

FO Friday

Is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

It is Sven, a pattern by Carol Anderson of Cottage Creations. I can't take credit for this adorable gnome. He was knit and stuffed by my friend Marsha. It's for one of Marsha's (grown) daughters, who likes gnomes.

I think Cottage Creations is a Wisconsin company, but I can't tell for sure. Their web site is pretty skimpy.  However, their patterns are supposed to be pretty good. This is the same company that puts out the Wonderful Wallaby, which is a very popular pattern.

Marsha is such a good knitter. She makes sweaters that fit really well! I can't think of a higher achievement for a knitter!